Analysis of Land Use Change and Habitat Quality Evolution Based on InVEST and PLUS Models: Example from Hanzhong Basin

Hanzhong Basin is an important source area in China's South-to-North Water Diversion Project. Analyzing land use and habitat quality within the region can enhance our understanding of its evolutionary patterns and further protect the natural resources and ecological environment security of the downstream working areas. This paper establishes a multi-type land use database and a habitat quality assessment system for the working area based on three periods of land use data from 2000 to 2020. It studies the spatiotemporal changes of land use in the research area from multiple aspects including land use transition matrix, landscape pattern indices, and habitat quality, and uses the PLUS model for land use expansion and prediction analysis. The results show that from 2000 to 2020, there were significant changes in land use types, mainly transfers between paddy fields, rural residential land, and urban land. The sprawl index decreased year by year, indicating a high degree of landscape fragmentation. Habitat quality results showed a downward trend year by year, with the area of high values decreasing and expanding southward, and the area of low values increasing, radiating outward from urban centers. High-grade ecological quality landscapes, dominated by water bodies and forests and grasslands, are mainly distributed along the Han river basin.